The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 257
Reply from MARC:
No, my best argument isn't a paper written in 1906, it was written in 2003. It
quotes studies done 100 years ago and more. You didn't finish reading what I
wrote, and you obviously didn't read the tests and studies I suggested. These
studies were done fairly recently.
What I was showing you is that knowledge of BTU irrelevancy has existed since
the invention of the internal combustion engine. There are guys like you running
around spouting wrong information because of oil industry propaganda. You
heard something about BTUs and you never stopped to consider that BTU
measurement relates to heating water, not powering internal combustion engines.
To your point of modern engines and direct injection, etc., these improvements
also improve the performance of ethanol fuels. In any event, these improvements prove that engine optimization, not BTU rating, is what is relevant. Didn't
you realize this?
Follow up by DAVID N:
BTU's (British Thermal Unit) are a measure of the energy output. As most all of
engines run a carnot cycle (exception be rotary engines), you are talking about
how much heat energy you produce in a given cycle of rotation in an engine.
Few BTU's the less energy availability for the thermodynamic cycle of your car's
engine which creates less MPG's.
Reply from MARC:
David, on this point you're exactly correct that BTU is a measure of energy output, specifically, the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of water
by 1 degree.
However, internal combustion engines don't run on water or steam. If we were
discussing steam-powered vehicles or in-home water heaters then BTUs would
be significant. Therefore, the rest of your comment is wrong.
